Fear Found
by Curiouser-and-Curiouser101
Summary: Dean finally has to face his worst fear head on.


"The only steps that matter are the ones you take all by yourself." Can't Go Back Now- The Weepies

Fear Found

Dean was scared. No, scratch that. Dean was fucking terrified. Sure, he could face werewolves, behead vampires, shoot shape-shifters, and hunt down ghosts any goddamn day, but this? This was taking his tolerance of fear and the unknown a bit too far. He paced and wrung his hands, then pulled his hair, then pinched the bridge of his nose, but none of the cliché reactions to the terror seemed to work for him. And Sam and Bobby's smug little smirks did nothing to help. Neither did the presence of the boy in the corner of the room.

He heard her upstairs too. That calmed him a little, knowing she was still close by where she should be. Then he remembered that it wouldn't last much longer and he panicked all over again. He was torn between wishing she would leave so she could come back and it all be over with and then he wished he could throw the punk out and just leave everything at that. Yeah, he liked option number two.

"What is she even doing up there?" He snapped the question out to Sam.

His brother just looked at him in return, his smirk widening. "She's getting ready, Dean, it's what girls do. Jess used to take hours sometimes. Luxa is just fine."

Dean's pacing however didn't relent even when Bobby told him to "sit his ass down before he wore a hole in the carpet".

It was a half hour before all four men heard a door open upstairs. With the cracking of the door came a blast of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that had been contained within the walls of the bedroom that Dean knew to be covered in old band t-shirts and fantasy novels. The shutting of the door though ended the brief distraction and refocused everyone on the sound of approaching footsteps that paused right before coming down the stairs and into sight.

"Dad, I'm... ready I guess." Her voice quaked a bit though it was obvious that she was trying to cover it with confidence, which made a soft smile come over Dean's face.

"Well are you gonna stay up there all night then?" How he wished she would. He wished she would retreat to her room and once again don her tattered jeans and Metallica t-shirt and stay home. He knew she wouldn't.

"I look ridiculous, I know, but don't you dare laugh." He could imagine Luxa's face, stubborn as all hell and furious just as it had been whenever he had laughed at something she did when she was little.

"Alright sweetheart, just get down here."

The footsteps began to descend and soon enough she came into sight. She stopped at the third step from the bottom making her almost even height with her dad.

"Dad?"

Her question made him focus. She had been completely wrong. She was nowhere near ridiculous and he wanted to cry, not laugh. Her blonde hair that when combined with her blue eyes made her the spitting image of his mother was braided with several strands un-tucked from the loose binding of hair. Her face was clean of make-up as he always required of her, though she was blushing like crazy so color was added to her milky skin. Her dress which she had shopped for only a half hour was white, she said it was crème or something but he could never keep all that shit straight. The silky fabric hit the ground but was intricately styled up top. Then he caught a glimpse of something that made his face finally break out in the smile Luxa had been hoping for. The rusted, smaller than a dime copper circle that was painted black on the top side except the 'W' that was engraved into the copper and showed the color of the metal instead of the paint. He had gotten that for her first birthday with him and she had never taken it off since. Yes, this was still his little Luxie.

"Daddy?" Again her voice snapped him out of his reverie.

"You look great, Luxie." He smiled at her.

Before she could respond _he_ stepped forward. "You look beautiful, Luxa." God, his daughter fucking glowed at the boy's words. She never glowed. Glared, glowered, yeah those worked for her, but Luxa wasn't one of those girls who giggled whenever a boy paid her a compliment.

"Thanks, Ty." Cue her blush.

And the little ass just smiled back at her and took her hand, leading her down the last three steps to stand in front of Sam, Dean, and Bobby.

Luxa tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and stated, "I umm, I guess Ty and I should get going."

Those words seemed to be a definite cue for all three men to fold their arms in front of their chests and glare at the sixteen year old boy.

"I want her back by ten thirty and if she isn't…"

"Daddy, the dance doesn't end until eleven thirty, maybe midnight. Come on, you trust me right?"

He trusted Luxa with every fiber of his being; it was the little punk who would get ideas. "Eleven forty five then. And I swear to god, if you do anything she isn't completely comfortable with…"

"Dad…" Luxa cut through his words again but her tone had gone from pleading to now being a warning tone that mimicked his whenever she had been in trouble when she had been little.

"…and even if she is comfortable with it…"

"DAD!" He stopped briefly to glance over at Luxa.

"Don't hurt her." Simple enough, right? Even the thick-headed quarter back could understand three words right?

"Y-yes, sir. I'll bring her back by eleven forty-five, eleven thirty even-"

An annoyed sigh quickly escaped Luxa as she pulled on Tyler's hand, effectively dragging him through the wall that her uncle, grandpa, and dad had made to corner them, and towards the door.

"I'll be fine guys, love you." Even though she was pissed she never left without telling them she loved them, not after her dad went to hell.

"Wait Luxa," Dean called and she turned around mid way to the door.

"What?" She didn't really snap or anything, she never did since she never could stay angry with her father.

"One picture." Sam chuckled and Bobby rolled his eyes, Dean didn't give two shits though, this was his daughter, his only kid.

Luxa however groaned with her head tossed back a little, "When did you become so embarrassing, dad?" Still however she moved away from Tyler and gave a simple pose, her smile clear as day on her face. His phone snapped the picture quickly and just as quickly replaced the plain blue background with the picture.

"Got it. Now go, and be safe Luxa."

"Love you," she called over her shoulder.

Dean thought he was scared before but now he watched his daughter and the boy run from the front hall and out the door to the flashy sports car that was Tyler's. He saw her get in and give a small wave back as the car sped off fast as all hell with music blaring, and not even good music. It was shitty pop, top one hundred. Damn, what did she see in that kid?

And that brought up a whole other issue. Of course he saw what Tyler could see in Luxa. Luxa was beautiful, she was funny with her father's less than clean sense of humor, she was smart, athletic of course, and she just had that personality. Confidant, not cocky… well, not too often, giving, fun, and just kinda… pure, he guessed would be a good word to describe it. As far as he saw though that boy was nowhere near worthy of his daughter and he would never understand her interest. But then wouldn't he see everything as settling when it came to boys for her?

After a few more hours of pacing from all three men until Sam and Bobby had finally crashed on the couch, the front door cracked open.

"I had a great time tonight, Luxa." He's nervous as all hell, Dean though amusedly.

"Oh, I know." Luxa responded in that cocky tone that was sarcastic, but most people took seriously.

The boy didn't. Tyler let out a laugh. "Good. I would kiss you, but I think your dad is probably cleaning a gun or something and since the door is cracked I'm not taking my chances."

Smart boy, he thought as he set down the .45 pistol.

"I'll take them for you then." The unmistakable sound of mouth meeting mouth came from the other side of the door and just as Dean was about to go kill the boy he heard Luxa's voice again. "I'll see you later. And thanks, I had a good time too."

The door finished opening as he heard Tyler jogging down the steps to his car. Luxa kind of staggered in backwards her face flushed, Dean was about to scold her to all hell but then he saw that look. Pure, unadulterated happiness. God, he would give anything for her to always look like that.

"Did you have a good time Luxie?" He kept his voice quiet so not to wake the other to guys or startle Luxa.

She whipped around, but once she saw it was him she relaxed. "As long as that's not a sexual innuendo, then yes, I did." She smiled back at him with her dimple showing, she only had one after she tripped down that flight of stairs when she was eight.

"I'm glad." As per usual he kissed her forehead. "Now why don't you go up to bed, it's late and I think we might have a small case to work tomorrow." When he brow creased he just brushed her hair back and soothed, "Don't worry about it, just a salt and burn, no big deal."

"Alright, I better go get some sleep then. Wake me up a bit early so I can get a shower in, I'm kinda wiped now." She hugged him one last time before starting for the stairs.

Usually he would have followed. He always tucked her in. Now though it seemed different. She was older, fifteen, and she probably didn't want to be coddled or treated like a child. So Dean started back to the table to finish the weapon cleaning. That is until her head poked into the room. "Dad? Are you coming or what?"

He had never run faster in his life than following the little blonde haired girl up the stairs to her room.

AN: Okay, so what do you think? I personally thought it was alright, could have been better, a bit fluffy, but whatever. And I will be turning this into a series that starts when Dean finds Luxa and continues through the seasons, if y'all are interested. Please leave some comments letting me know what you think.

-Rhaenys


End file.
